Well, I had this nice blog written out and ready to post on Monday. Unfortunately, the electricity went out in Mbita when I was almost finished typing it, so I won’t be posting it. Here’s a quick update instead, though.
Last Friday, we found out that we would be leaving Mbita, SEEK, and Kenya a bit early. Things just did not work out for us to stay in Mbita for our last month, so we’re headed back to Uganda. We packed our stuff up and will be heading straight to Uganda at the end of our vacation week from Mombasa. We will be staying with True Vine Ministries in Tororro, Uganda, and ministering with them. Some of you may remember that we spent a week there in early January. We all loved the people and the ministry there, so we are excited to spend our last days ministering with them in Africa. It should be a wonderful way to conclude this trip, and I’m looking forward to being there.
In the mean time, we are on our vacation this week. Tuesday, we traveled all day to Telek in the Maasai Mara. We spend the night there and got up early the next morning for our safari, which was incredible! We saw four of the five “Big Five” (the lion [8 females and their cubs], cheetah [one mother and cub and one who had just finished a kill], water buffalo [they were everywhere] and elephants [there were hundreds of them surrounding us at one point, and they were definitely my favorite]- we didn’t see rhinos because they don’t live in that part of the Mara). We also saw hippos, ostriches, crocodiles, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, antelopes, gazelles, warthogs, jackals, vultures and some other birds, wildebeest, and baboons. And most of these, we saw within twenty or thirty feet of our vehicle, some, like the cheetah and its cub, within five feet. It was an INCREDIBLE time! Plus, we got to see and visit with the Maasai (please look them up if you are not familiar with them- they’re so awesome!) I really hope God calls me back to work with them some day. It would be really cool!
We got up this morning at 3:30 to travel to Nairobi (where I am currently), and will be spending today and tomorrow here in the city before heading to Mombasa this weekend for a little R&R at the beach- Lord knows we need it! So far, this vacation has been very fun and relaxing (if not restful with all the travel), and it, I believe is serving as a nice transition time for us before we go to Uganda for the last three weeks. It certainly has been a blessing so far!
Also, if you would like to see some recent pictures of our team, Reese just posted a photo blog. You can find it here. I hope you enjoy them, and I look forward to writing again soon from Uganda!
3 wks until stateside. I know it will be a bittersweet time, but it will be the best late bday for Laura who misses you mightily. While I haven’t seen a safari, I did see a warren of about 50 rabbits up close (some up on their hind legs) in Corpus and that was glorious.
So very glad that you all are having a vacation and can hardly wait for your return home. Enjoy every day in His light & creation and your fellowship with one another. In His love,
Enjoy your last few weeks. Isn’t it amazing to see all the diffent beautiful things that are in different parts of the earth? I love reading your experiences. I would guess that this year will forever divide time for you into “before” and “after”. I’m praying for you and for your team.
Do you KNOW how rare it is to see a Cheetah?! That’s awesome dude! Actually, the Cheetah isn’t one of the Big Five, but it is one of the magnificent seven. The Big Five are: lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and buffalo. Glad you guys got to experience this before you left!